Would You Hire Out Your Privately Owned Boat?

[Boaters]

Discussion on Radio Norfolk about a plan to  place you inn touch with boat owners prepared to hire out their boats directly . The amount of arguments about the obstacles involved from The BA ,and othhers involved in boating ,not to mention the owner of the boats moorings ,could limit the take up on this idea .Would you consider doing this with your pride and joy ?

[Ray]

I doubt many of us would, isn't it all going to hinge on insurance even for those that do want to?

The hire fleets are set up to do this properly and safely, it's best left to them I think.

[Matt]

I did not take it up but you can get very cheap car parking at Gatwick if you are prepared to let them hire your car out whilst you are away.......


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[MauriceMynah]

It will be a "No" from me too.

If the insurance agreed to it, and if I paid the toll for a hire craft there would still be issues. I keep my boat ready to go with my bed stuff, spare emergency clothing etc. etc.

I have lent Nyx to friends but never for money. 

I hate to think of the legal minefield involved, so I agree with Ray, best left to the experts in the field.

[BuffaloBill]

I know of two yards that will not let you hire out your own boat.

It's in the Terms and Conditions.

The Insurance would go through the roof anyway and would

you like your boat being used by, perhaps, Stag and Hen do's?

Seen that happen before with Hire Craft, even picking up extra

people down river!(Wayford and Ranworth) Big NO from us!!

[rightsaidfred]

Simple answer is no, apart from issues with tolls and insurance etc it would  be the equivalent of hiring out my house complete with all my personal belongings, added to that half the reason for owning my own boat is the freedom to use it at a moments notice or on a whim with an up-change in the weather or personal circumstances, at the end of the day it is my second home.

Fred

[BroadAmbition]

Not a prayer, for all the tea in china or a huge debit card - Zippo diddly squat.

Am I being clear enough?

Insurance issues, toll issues, not to mention the handover / clean through.

I often get asked if we would hire out 'B.A'.  Putting the financial complications to one side I usually explain it something like this.

If you had a old, lets say classic collectable very rare MG sports car that you had spent years and a fortune on restoring to concourse condition.  You also had a brand new Focus and you HAD to lend one of them out - which one would it be? - In my case the Focus - Insured and easily replaced, besides they are like are5oles - everyone has got one

We have lent out 'B.A' (Never for financial gain) before now and no doubt will do so again, a select few other like minded boat owners would also be welcome to take her out without one of the owners onboard too.  The closest we would ever get to 'Hiring' her out is with one of the owners onboard and a large donation to a charity

Griff

[Boaters]

I would never consider it ,but the maintenance and breakdown response  would make it a  no no I would have thought. 

[marshman]

Cannot believe that discussion got off the ground - there are so many obstacles that it must have been a bit of a waste of time ! Perhaps there was little other news to discuss...!!

[Smoggy]

Not a hope in hell!

 

[JennyMorgan]

And if your boat breaks down whilst out on hire? Call out Boulters? They are busy! Richardsons, your guess is as good as mine. Call in at another hire yard only to be told to sod off? Practicalities apart, NO! 

[Ray]

So... everyone is undecided then! 

[vanessan]

For all the reasons above, decidedly a no-no! Apart from the fact that we’re on it for much of the time between March and November, the poor boat needs a good rest over the winter. 

[addicted]

Hire out our pride and joy? Wash your mouth out!!

 

Carole

[Meantime]

I'm not sure why everyone's being so negative, I think it's a wonderful idea. Boats need to be used, nothing causes parts to seize up more than being left for weeks on end. There's no problem that is unsurmountable if people put their mind to it. At the peak of the season most of the hire yards are empty so there must be plenty of demand there.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I'm sure insurance can be found, the marina only has to be told that it's family members turning up to use your boat. The BA are unlikely to turn down an increased toll.

I guess the only thing left to be discussed would be the financial reward side of things.

If the forum don't mind I'll kick off with advertising availability for my boat and I'm more than happy to donate a percentage of income to forum funds for the use of the forum to advertise the boats availability.

I try and avoid the six weeks Summer holiday so my boat will be available for those six weeks. Please pm me via the forum if interested, nominating which of the six weeks you would be interested in. To make things easy I'll make it an all inclusive deal with parking for three cars, all diesel included, personal handover and even a pickup from the station if arriving by train. £10,000 per week with a 50% reduction for further weeks.  

 

[BroadAmbition]

Like it. 

In all seriousness £10k wouldn’t swing it for me even if someone was that daft with deep pockets 

Griff

[MauriceMynah]

1 hour ago, marshman said:

Cannot believe that discussion got off the ground - there are so many obstacles that it must have been a bit of a waste of time ! Perhaps there was little other news to discuss...!!

I suppose its a fair thread given the possibility that someone might be thinking of buying a boat reckoning on getting their money back by hiring it out when they are not using it. It might serve as a shot across the bow for them.

Some years ago I met someone who had that very idea having heard about my having a boat (we worked at the same place.) Also, how many of us owners have been asked "do you hire your boat out?" 

You never know Marshman, this thread might actually achieve something.

[Smoggy]

And of course a bss wouldn't cut it, you'd have to go for full rcd standards I believe.

[tonplus]

It's a big no from me, let the hire yards do their stuff.

 

[SwanR]

As a hirer I can also say that I wouldn’t want to take out someone’s own boat. We class ourselves as relatively experienced hirers but that’s a world away from knowing how to look after the boat. Plus we enjoy the security of knowing that there are backup services should we need them. 

[LondonRascal]

There are car services where you hire our your own car - the website takes care of all the hassle and enables you to make money when you are otherwise not using the car.

I think the same with boats could be a good idea, after all there is 'Berths Onboard' with is a bit like AirBnB whereby people stay on your boat at its mooring and pay you for the accommodation.

It you remove the cost implications - covered by the daily rate - it leaves you with the cold choice, do you want the your boat being used as a hire boat? Most would say no - me included because boat handling is a skill and I would be worried about the damage caused, even if small to my boat or others as a result. I'll leave it up to the businesses who are there for those wanting to go boating without the ownership.

[Londonlad1985]

1 hour ago, EastCoastIPA said:

To make things easy I'll make it an all inclusive deal with parking for three cars, all diesel included, personal handover and even a pickup from the station if arriving by train. £10,000 per week with a 50% reduction for further weeks.  

The right boat in the right market... (tourists in London) marketed properly to the right rube (I mean customer) could achieve that I would have thought. 

[Markw]

For the last 3 years we have taken a couple of weeks in Fort Lauderdale on the east coast of Florida each May where boat hire is actually pretty much 90% private owners - it is as easy as hiring a car - but mostly focused on day hires here & there rather than a week at a time - although one guy i was chatting to last year when looking to book again, and mentioned that i might take it for 2 days - was more than happy for me to keep it at our villa we had rented overnight (had 100ft of waterfront dock - on the main intracoastal waterway) - without blinking an eye.

Booking is all done through a website - all rental agreements / legal agreements with them - obviously the owners pay fees etc - but it does seem to work really well.  We have hired different boats over the last few years and never had a problem.

Pic of last one below

[Meantime]

3 minutes ago, Markw said:

For the last 3 years we have taken a couple of weeks in Fort Lauderdale on the east coast of Florida each May where boat hire is actually pretty much 90% private owners - it is as easy as hiring a car - but mostly focused on day hires here & there rather than a week at a time - although one guy i was chatting to last year when looking to book again, and mentioned that i might take it for 2 days - was more than happy for me to keep it at our villa we had rented overnight (had 100ft of waterfront dock - on the main intracoastal waterway) - without blinking an eye.

Booking is all done through a website - all rental agreements / legal agreements with them - obviously the owners pay fees etc - but it does seem to work really well.  We have hired different boats over the last few years and never had a problem.

Pic of last one below

Can see that renting well on The Broads

[grendel]

I bet it wouldnt fit under all of the bridges